By Haley O’Shaughnessy–
Last Friday, the Cards and Cats battled again for the third time this fall—after football and volleyball, both won by the University of Louisville—when the two women’s soccer teams faced off under the lights.
Before the game, U of L’s President Ramsey commented on the outstanding student and alumni and fan attendance, saying, “We’re all excited and glad to be here. We have made a commitment to making all of our sports as important on campus here as the men’s football and basketball.”
The game started with the rivalry’s usual intensity. Early in the first half, a shot attempt and follow-up by the Louisville offense resulted in an injury to UK’s starting goalkeeper, Kayla Price, landing her on the sidelines. Later, the game paused in order to find Price’s tooth that fell out during the clash. Louisville’s goalie, Chloe Kiefer, kept the score at 0-0 the first half with a few outstanding dives.
Despite a strong defensive effort in the second half, UK forward Natalie Horner managed to get a goal past Kiefer in the 59th minute, breaking the tie. Shortly after, UK forward Kelli Hubly would score the last goal of the game, making the final score 2-0.
Louisville’s head coach, Karen Ferguson-Dayes, said after the game, “I definitely think Kentucky deserved to win tonight, as hard as that is to say. I thought the first half was a better half for us. The second half, I thought we lost a bit of our composure after we gave up the first goal.”
She then added, “There’s no question this game will make us a better team, so moving forward, I think we just have to stay positive about where we are as a team and just make sure that the lessons that we learn make us stronger and allow us to win games as we move forward.”
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Photo: Austin Lassell/The Louisville Cardinal
